White Tail's Memories
by UKEagleclaw
Summary: A small one-short following Dawn of the Clans, a young WindClan cat, discusses the death of his father with the RiverClan leader, River Ripple.


**White Tail's Memories**

Wind swept the moor, flicking up moisture from the grass, and the sun blazed as it began to fall from the sky, signifying night and darkness. The moor is beautiful, but like everything, it has its dangers. The nearby gorge that flowed along the RiverClan border was known for its thunderous rapids of water that could easily overwhelm and drown a cat. Twolegs dogs would also torment the cats. Worse yet, the Clans often fought over petty disagreements. When would things ever improve?

In his moment of daydreaming, he hadn't realised the scent of an approaching cat. He turned his small gray-and-white patched head, uneasily, as he detected a noise from the heather. "What are you doing here? This is WindClan territory," he questioned.

Green eyes shining, a sleek, silver-gray tom with rippling stripes exited the heather. "I was on my way to your camp, actually. Before, it gets too dark." he shrugged. He neared the younger cat and rested his tail on the cat's back. "I spotted an uneasy look in your eye; I can guess what it's about. Are you thinking about your father?"

A fresh wave of grief crushed him. "Why did he have to die?" he growled, he steadied himself as he continued. "I can barely remember him. It's like his scent was blown away by the wind, he's untraceable to me. I think, and think, but I can't remember his face. My Clanmates say he had golden eyes, but I can't remember a thing about him."

"Hush," the older tom soothed, calming the younger cat. "I knew your father. He was a good friend to me."

"Really?" he meowed in surprise. Suspicion racked his meow as he continued, "I thought that all the Clans were separate? Did you really know my father?"

"Yes," he laughed. "He stayed in my camp once-"

"Why would he want to stay by a river? He was a moor cat?" he interrupted, not quite believing this cat's story.

"At some point, I think he stayed in every Clan's territory," the older tom continued not at least a bit irritated by the other cat's interruption. "He was a roamer, but he loved WindClan, and his family."

"What did he look like?" he enquired. He still couldn't remember his father's appearance; it was like a shadow blocked it from his mind.

"He had broad shoulders, his fur was dark gray, and his eyes a vivid shade of gold. Eventually, he got a torn ear," the silver tom described, laughing slightly at the last bit. Then paused, looking casually at the younger tom. "You look life him. Your patches of dark gray fur are the same colour as his was. And you already possess such broad shoulders for a cat of your age. Even though you have amber eyes, there's still a glint of gold in them."

He felt pride at the cat's compliments, but it also reminded him that his father was dead. Buried in the cold moor earth, his spirit was lost among the stars. He'd be unable to see his father again for many, many seasons.

The older tom saw that the younger cat had begun to tremble and shake violently. "Don't worry, it'll be okay," he hushed. As he spoke he pointed his tail to up to the sky, up to a group of stars as they began to lighten up the darkening sky. "He's looking down at you from silverpelt."

"But… But… He's dead. And I won't be able to see him again," he cried, dismissing any sort of self-pride he had in front of the other Clan cat. "StarClan may or may not be real. But what does it matter, he's rotting away in the ground, that's how I'll remember him, a faceless cat suffocated by mud and dirt."

"You can't think like that. However, much we hate death, it's a natural part of life," the silver-gray tom instructed. "I've seen StarClan, they're real. Like the wind that pushes against our fur, and the sun that heats our back. And they're as real as the fresh-kill that we eat."

"But I've not seen proof. How do I know that these star cats even exist at all," he huffed in frustration.

"Trust your instincts, trust your heart, what do you believe?" the wise tom meowed peacefully.

For a heartbeat, he closed his eyes. Remembering, everything that had happened in his life. The deaths, the burial ceremonies, he focused upon those memories, trying to detect something he hadn't realised before. He realised. His memories had unlocked at that instant. He felt his ears twitch unexpectedly in amazement. He remembered, star-pelted figures, kindly watching over his father. They were there all along, watching his father's death. They had been waiting to guide him to StarClan so that he could rest in peace upon the stars. His friends, his family, they were waiting to welcome him with loving embraces. And his star-pelted father had followed them, leaving his body behind, heading for his new hunting grounds. Through death, he would live forever. Loving memories would keep him alive in the heads and hearts of the cats that remained. The ground hadn't trapped him. His spirit still thrived, chatting to old friends and family. He was hunting among the stars, never to be forgotten. His father was a member of StarClan.

Opening his eyes, he realised that River Ripple was gracefully padding further into the moor, heading towards the WindClan camp. "Thank you," he called warmly.

"For what? The answers were always inside your heart, they just needed to be uncovered, just like Gray Wing." he turned his head, and meowed solemnly. "I know he loved you immensely. And just like the clouds, the sun, the moon, and the stars, he'll be by your side forever. Remember, Gray Wing may not be with you in a physical form, but he'll be there, invisible, guiding your paws in the right direction." he paused and turned into the growing starlight that penetrated the darkness.

"May StarClan light your path."

 **Author's Notes**

 **We discover more reaction from Gray Wing's death from one of kits, White Tail. I used River Ripple because I prefer him over Clear Sky and Thunder (and I felt River Ripple, being a more peaceful character suited this better).**

 **I love Gray Wing, and he is definitely my favourite Warriors character. Therefore, I felt further attachment to this. It was a privilege and something mystifying for me to do this; I'd wanted to write something on Gray Wing's death for awhile now to pay tribute to him. I was very sad writing this (particular the realisation paragraph), but extremely proud with how it went. Similar to when I read it in PoS. Overall, I just think I came up with some really special lines about it. For me, this is on par with what I did on the last part of AT.**

 **Finally,  
The main theme is life & death. These are my views on death so sorry if it offends anyone or any think. Tbh, I don't have any major views on the subject, other than, I wish that there was conformation of some kind of StarClan. Also that sadly it is a natural process that does happen. Enough about that, this is not meant to be causing any problems. Of course, I respect everyone's views. I'll probably post this on the BCWikia & on my account soon. Hope you enjoyed it. ?**

 **By UKEagleclaw**


End file.
